Six-figure Hawk-Eye system set for June debut

Croke Park stadium director Peter McKenna said the cost of installing Hawk-Eye score detection technology at Croke Park was ‘a serious six figure sum’.

Specsavers Opticians were yesterday confirmed as sponsors of the new technology which will be in place at Croke Park from June 1.

The novel deal helps recoup some of the significant spend on implementing the internationally renowned system though McKenna believes it is a worthwhile expense.

He insisted the technology will be 100% accurate after a trial process.

“It’s a serious six figure sum,” he said of the outlay. “There’s a lot of investment in getting the system right. There’s almost a nine month testing phase with the system.

“It should add to the (match day) experience. For a starter, there is going to be a lot of theatre associated with it.

“But I think anything that improves score detection, that is really what we are about — a disputed point no longer becomes disputed, it is very clear what it is.

“In windy conditions, when a ball is hit high, particularly a sliothar, which is small, to know exactly if that was a point or not I think is a fantastic result to have here at Croke Park.”

As for the specifics, he explained exactly how it will track whether points have or haven’t been scored.

“The posts are 13 metres high,” continued McKenna. “The detection system will take in another 13 metres above that. So you have a 26 metre catch area. You are capturing the ball in three dimensions and tracking its exact position relative to the post.”

Meanwhile, the stadium chief insisted Croke Park will be in perfect condition for Sunday’s Allianz League final despite a difficult spring which saw a lot of games and bad weather.

“If you think that Christmas Day was seven degrees and Easter Sunday was four degrees, the whole thing was just turned completely on its head,” said McKenna.

“But in terms of its traction and bounceability, all of those things, the pitch is the same as ever in that sense.”